George Clooney Writes to Italians to Promise He's No Beach Stealer  4/30/05

George Clooney has penned a heartfelt letter to his neighbors in Laglio, Italy assuring them he has no intention of stealing their beach.

Locals were so livid when Clooney started cleaning up the sand on the shores of Lake Como amid reports he was planning to make it a private beach they started vandalizing his property in protest.

But now the movie star has promised his neighbors that he was merely cleaning up the beach for everybody's use.

In a letter sent to the local council, he wrote, "I have never and would never try to take the beach away."

And in a further bid to renew his friendship with locals, he signs off, "Let me earn your respect and your citizenship."